Special Interests
The River Trails Park District offers numerous activities for youth and teens! Check out our current special interest class and Parkour Programs. Youth also enjoy our summer camps, dance and athletic programming.
Chess Scholars
Develop your child’s intellect through the royal game of chess! Current research has shown a strong link between chess and academic performance in a variety of areas, including mathematics and language arts. Chess has been proven to enhance children’s motivation, concentration, focus, social skills, and creativity. Each class will consist of a fun, interactive teaching period and guided practice time. Both beginner and experienced players are welcome and will learn under the guidance of an experienced Chess Scholars coach. No class on 11/23.
Grade: K-5
Location: Indian Grove School
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Tue | 3:30-4:15pm | Sep 14-Oct 19 | $112/$132 |
| Tue | 3:30-4:15pm | Oct 26-Dec 14 | $130/$150 |
Rockin’ Guitars
Learn to rock on the guitar! We cover the basics: chords, scales, rhythm, and songs. Have your own guitar? Bring it! If not, we’ll supply one. Chad Berardi currently rocks Chicago with his own band, has been playing for 30 years and teaching for 18 years. There will be no class on 11/23.
Age: 7-14
Location: Weiss Community Center
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Tue | 4:30-5pm | Sep 7-Oct 19 | $95/$114 |
| Tue | 4:30-5pm | Oct 26-Dec 14 | $95/$114 |
Young Magicians
Join us for a fun night of magic and mystery! Magic tricks will be taught that include cards, coins, ropes, and much more! You will discover that the tricks are quick to learn and easy to perform. All materials are provided on site. Each child will receive a magic kit to take home at the end of class. Participants are grouped by age and learn age-appropriate tricks. New tricks are taught at each session, so sign up again and again. Contracted by the Magic of Gary Kantor.
Age: 5-12
Location: Arlington Heights Park District
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Wed | 5-5:55pm | Oct 13 | $25/$30 |
| Thu | 6:30-7:25pm | Dec 16 | $25/$30 |
SafeSitter Courses
Do you feel ready to stay home alone, watch your brothers and sisters while your parents are gone, or babysit for younger children? Then maybe it’s time for Safe Sitter®. Safe Sitter® is for kids and young teens in grades 6-8 who are ready to learn the skills they need to care for themselves and younger children. In addition, Safe Sitter® teaches young teens life and business skills, so that they know how to be prepared, be responsible, and be considerate whether they are babysitting or doing odd jobs for family, friends, or neighbors. You’ll have fun, you’ll learn a lot and at the end of the day, you can proudly say, “I am a Safe Sitter®!”
Safe@Home
Grade: 4-6
Location: Burning Bush Community Center
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Sat | 10-11:30am | Sep 18 | $35/$42 |
Intro to Safe Babysitting
Grade: 6-8
Location: Burning Bush Community Center
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Sat | 10-11:30am | Nov 13 | $35/$42 |
Video Game Robotics
Love building with LEGO? Love video games? It all comes together with TechStars! You and your partner will create video games, and then use LEGO Robotics Kits to build a controller for your Scratch game. This special course lets you build robots with sensors that communicate and control your games. Build alligators, magic wands, and watch as you bring them to life onscreen!
Ages: 8-12
Location: Mount Prospect Park District
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Mon | 6-7:15pm | Sep 13-Oct 4 | $93/$112 |
Minecraft Madness
Explore the world of Minecraft, one of the most popular video games in history, which offers an amazing world of endless possibilities. Let your imagination transform your Minecraft experience into a unique world YOU create! Students will discover how to expand their world & possibilities using popular game-enhancing mods. Build traps, arrow launchers, faster rail systems and more. Participate in building challenges! Learn fundamentals of computer networking through this unique Minecraft experience that also allows you and your friends to work in multiplayer mode as you mine, craft, and build together. Note: This class takes place at the River Trails Park District. No class on 11/22.
Ages: 8–12
Location: Burning Bush Community Center
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Mon | 6-7:15pm | Nov 15-Dec 13 | $93/$112 |
Children’s Theatre
A weekly musical theatre workshop culminates in a showcase featuring age-appropriate excerpts from smash hit movie musicals! Students will learn the basics of vocal technique, choreography, and acting while working together to produce an in-class performance for family and friends. The showcase will take place during the last 30 minutes of our final class. Indian Grove students will be walked over to Burning Bush after school by RTPD staff. There will be no class on 11/25.
Instructors: Margo Proeh, Gabrielle Garza & Children’s Theatre staff.
Grade: K-6
Location: Burning Bush Community Center
| Name | Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Rainbow Connection | Thu | 3:30-4:30pm | Sep 9-Oct 21 | $130/$150 |
| Newsies | Thu | 3:30-4:30pm | Oct 28-Dec 16 | $130/$150 |
Smart Start Art
Explore your artistic side with the Smart Art Program from Afterschool Enrichment Solutions. Discover your creativity and imagination as an artist, develop fine-motor skills, style, and vision as we explore different artistic techniques through a variety of inspiring projects and play fun, exciting games. Sketch and draw, shade and color, cut, glue, fold…Create! No experience necessary.
There will be no class on 9/16 & 11/25.
Grade: K – 4
Location: Euclid School
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Thu | 3:30-4:15pm | Sep 9-Oct 21 | $112/$132 |
| Thu | 3:30-4:15pm | Oct 28-Dec 16 | $130/$150 |
Dino Discovery
Children will go on their own fossil dig, analyze, and assemble skeleton pieces, just like a team of paleontologists. They’ll learn about dinosaurs and the techniques used in extracting fossils as we make many discoveries in this handson class. To wrap it up, they’ll make a documentary about their findings!
Ages: 5-7
Location: Prospect Heights Park District
| Day | Time | Date | Fee (R/NR) |
| Mon | 6-7pm | Oct 18-Nov 8 | $75/$89 |
